Pikes Peak Region Events

Come enjoy out winter wonderland at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo's Electric Moonlight!

This adults-only evening event offers all-inclusive samplings of food, beer, wine, and spirits.

We will also have live local musicians, warming fire pits, a chance to visit Santa Claus and over 85 staff-made light sculptures to see as you stroll through the Zoo.

Celebrate the magic of Christmas high atop Williams Canyon at Cave of the Winds Mountain Park! Enjoy a quarter of a million lights for our 2nd annual Mountain Illumination Festival.

Our winter wonderland of twinkling lights, pictures with Santa, the Coca-Cola Bear and warm holiday cheer is a perfect way to help usher in Christmas this year! Check out our giant animated Christmas tree as its lights dance to some of your favorite holiday songs, climb the Wind Walker Challenge Course, enjoy treats like hot chocolate, hot Dr. Pepper & cinnamon sticks, or s’mores around the fire pit, all included in your admission! Don\'t forget to stop by the kids ornament craft area!

New this year, we are incredibly excited to be partnering with Christmas Unlimited, serving children and families in the Pikes Peak Region. In keeping with the true spirit of the giving season and to help spread and share the magic of Christmas with families throughout the Pikes Peak region, a portion of the proceeds of pictures with Santa and the Coca-Cola bear will go to Christmas Unlimited. As a bonus, receive a free plush teddy bear or puppy with every Santa or Coca-Cola bear photo, courtesy of Christmas Unlimited, while supplies last.

Receive $5 off your admission when you donate a new stuffed animal!

This event is weather permitting. Please, no tour busses or RV\'s.

Holiday activities will kick off with the nightly Gold Camp Christmas Holiday Headframe Lighting throughout Cripple Creek and Victor.

Experience the lights in the Gold Camp by taking a drive (with your favorite Christmas tunes playing) on a self-guided tour through our area as our mine headframes are decorated with large Christmas light displays. Would you prefer a guided tour? Then be sure to check out the detailed schedule of events for the time and date for the guided tour over the main event weekend.

While activities will be happening all month long, our main event weekend is packed full of fun activities that are too good to miss! Stop by the Christmas Craft Fair where you can find items made by local crafters and win prizes!

Decorated Christmas trees, available for purchase through the Live Tree Auction, will be on display for your enjoyment and holiday decorating inspiration. Don’t miss our Christmas Parade with appearances from Santa, as well as several parade participants who will be showing off their interpretation of this year’s theme.

Festive activities for children include gift making, crafts, a scavenger hunt, skating around the Christmas Tree, gingerbread ornament decorating and numerous opportunities to whisper Christmas wishes in Santa’s ear! And, of course, no Christmas would be complete without s’mores and marshmallows roasting on an open fire and free hot chocolate and cider to warm your hands and soul.

Visit our website to learn more!

Electric Safari at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is the only place in Colorado Springs where you can see over 85 one-of-a-kind holiday light sculptures and enjoy a full Zoo experience!

This year’s event will celebrate 29 years of holiday cheer, and we hear that Santa Claus himself will be hearing wishes each night through December 23.

Come celebrate the holiday season with sparkling lights, animal experiences and fun for the whole family!

“Christmas Scheming…or…Sittin’ on the Dock of the eBay”, is a fun look at Santa’s workshop in North Pole, Colorado.

Happy and Jingle, two of Santa’s elves, are beside themselves when they find that the warehouse is almost empty…and right before Christmas Eve – what could have happened?

Harry Scary Elf and his sidekick Wanna Delight are sure acting weird; and they won’t stay out of the way so Happy and Jingle can figure it out and help Santa save Christmas.

The melodrama is a hilarious adventure and is followed by a Christmas sing-along intermission and a fun-filled Vaudeville Style holiday Olio with a plethora of funny holiday numbers, skits, jokes, dances, crazy costumes and as always – be prepared to become part of the show!

This show is fun for the whole family!

Celebrate the end-of-the-year with us! Special guest NORAD Tracks Santa will be here from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to count down to Christmas eve.

Come donning your ugliest holiday or geeky science sweater for a chance to win some Discovery Center swag.

Space Foundation Discovery Center Store will be open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for last minute holiday shopping and stocking stuffers.

Activities include:

• NORAD Tracks Santa: https://www.noradsanta.org/
• Ugly holiday or geeky science sweater social media contest
• 3D printing workshop: Make a holiday decoration (10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.)
• Science On a Sphere® presentation: Review the year-in-space
• Virtual Reality Laboratory: Experience VR
• Mars Robotics Laboratory: Rover races

The Pikes Peak AdAmAn Club has been a tradition since 1922.

The unique group of mountaineers each year on December 30th and 31st climb the icy slopes of the world famous Pikes Peak - America's Mountain and at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve ignite a glorious fireworks display from the summit to usher in the New Year.

Check online for more information.

Let’s take a journey into human space flight! Learn how we get into space, train like an astronaut, and explore our solar system.

Discover what it takes to become an astronaut as we learn about the most diverse class of astronauts ever.

Homeschool Day activities include:

• Jeff Gonyea, creator of Zack and Zoey Adventures, presents his magazine “S.T.E.M. to Bloom” at 10:30 a.m.
• Science On a Sphere® presentation: “Train like an Astronaut”
• STEAM-based (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) activities: Stomp rockets and exploring the solar system in our Educational Activity Center.
• Learn how other countries train their astronauts: Origami and coding with Ozobots in AGI classroom.
• and more!

Customer Appreciation Days feature great incentives at the shops you love and as a bonus you can also meet featured artists and see live demonstrations.

Two days, once a year, find original art at most Old Colorado City art galleries at lower prices. Join Old Colorado City's art district and its dozen plus art galleries and other retail shops for a big day featuring top notch artwork for big savings.

Adding to, or starting your art collection is even more attainable at this Annual "Customer Appreciation Days" buying event. Enthusiastic crowds of art buyers are expected at this two-day only event.

Arrive early for the very best selections.

This event creates a fun learning environment for the whole family and inspires the next generation of astronomy enthusiasts!

All outdoor activities are free to the public.

Activities include:

• Constellation Tubes, Yarn Constellations and more!
• Night Sky Viewing: Crescent moon, Venus setting, Orion & Andromeda
• Science On a Sphere® presentations

Homeschool Day activities include:

• Guest speaker Jeff Gonyea, creator of Zack and Zoey Adventures, presents his magazine “S.T.E.M. to Bloom” at 10:30 a.m.
• Science On a Sphere® presentation: Kinesthetic Astronomy
• STEAM-based (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) activities and crafts.
• Make your own telescope and constellations in our AGI classroom.
• Explore our universe by learning how light travels in our Educational Activity Center
• and more!

Come and discover how astronomy influences our everyday life.

The Cripple Creek Ice Festival is a spectacular event. Come watch ice sculptors carve ice into beautiful works of art that will amaze you.

2020 marks the 13th year for this premiere event. Past themes have included a Mythological Wonderland, Story Time, Under the Sea, a Military Salute Carved in Ice, a Rocky Mountain Wonderland, the Old West and a Safari theme.

This year’s theme is TBD

The Cripple Creek Ice Festival features numerous fun events to enjoy throughout the two event weekends. Interactive sculptures are available for event attendees to climb on and to have a Kodak moment. Several sculptures are made just for kids, with a fun ice slide and an ice maze that are all made of ice. Street vendors have just the perfect thing to bring home as a memento of your visit here!

There will be free off-street parking. For shuttle service, please contact 719-689-7711.

Also – Don’t miss the Ice & Art Fest at the Heritage Center from 9 a.m. till 4 p.m. daily throughout Ice Fest. Meet the artists Saturday, February 8 from 1-4 p.m. Hors-d’oeuvres and wine will be served.

Featured Artists include:

• Thomas Barlow
• Sub Zero
• Snice Carvings
• All Cool Ice
• Ice Cubed of Denver

There will be museum access from 6 p.m. to Science Riot showtime.

Pre-Show Activities:

• VIP gallery access prior to Science Riot show time
• Science On a Sphere® presentation
• Demonstration station: “Science Bets You Can Make With Friends”
• Networking, food truck eats and cash bar drinks.

The show begins at 8 p.m.

The food truck on site will be PigLatin Cocina Food Truck and it will be a cash bar only.

This event is for adults 18 and older and you must be age 21 with valid I.D. to consume alcoholic beverages.